Ghosts
by cyberhawk777
Summary: A villain from the Quests' past, believed to be dead, is back and more dangerous than ever, as he threatens the city of Beijing. The Chinese government has requested their help to stop him.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** **This story is a little different than what I've tried in the past, merging TRAJQ and the original series. Hopefully I'm striking a good balance between the two sets of elements. Please R &R.**

 **Chapter 1**

It was a pleasant winter afternoon in the Florida Keys, as Dr. Quest toiled away in his lab on various projects. He had finally made a breakthrough on one which had been particularly difficult when he received a notification from IRIS. "Dr. Quest: you have a call from Lt. Zháo Long of the Chinese People's Armed Police Force"

"Thank you, IRIS. I'll take it in here," the scientist acknowledged. Wanting to continue his work, he added, "Put it on speaker."

"Hello, Lt. Zháo. How may I help you?"

With some hesitation, the man began to speak, "Hello, Dr. Quest. I have been ordered by my superiors to request your assistance in a sensitive matter. Is this line secure?"

"Very much so, Lieutenant. You may speak freely." Benton reassured him.

"Thank you. I'm sure you remember the missile incident in Quetong, which you assisted us with some years ago," Lt. Zháo began.

"Of course."

"Yesterday morning, the Central Military Commission received a message claiming to be from General Fong."

Dr. Quest couldn't believe what he'd just heard. "He's been dead for seven years. Are you certain?"

"Completely," came the response. "In the message, he claims that he is once again in possession of the means to either take over China, or else to destroy much of it. We believe he has obtained one or more nuclear devices. Because you have faced him in the past, we are requesting your assistance."

"Certainly," Dr. Quest agreed, "I'll prepare to leave as soon as possible."

After the men said their goodbyes, Dr. Quest turned to walk back to the main house, both to pack and to retrieve everyone. Jonny and Hadji were in the Questworld lab, while Jessie and Race were scuba diving, but were due to be back soon.

During this time, Jonny and Hadji, the latter being home from college on break, were competing in a game on Questworld, this time fighting something a little different than usual: a series of beings from Greek mythology. Jonny had the idea based on Surd's version of Medusa, which had turned everyone but him into stone within Questworld, and the pair worked with IRIS to prepare everything. Now, it was Jonny's turn first to test it as Hadji monitored him and, given his adopted brother's sense of humor, Medusa was his first opponent.

"C'mon, Hadj," he complained as he ducked behind a pillar with his sword and shield. Just like in the legend, Jonny crept around avoiding making direct eye contact and, in a slight variation, caused her to see her own reflection in the mirror-polished shield, transforming herself into stone.

"Slammin'!" Jonny exclaimed. "IRIS, can't you give me more of a challenge?" he then asked the AI.

"Affirmative," the synthesized voice responded.

Just then, the ground within Questworld began to shake. "Hadj...what's that?" Jonny asked.

"I believe that is your bigger challenge,," Hadji replied with a laugh.

Just as something behind him appeared to be blocking all light, Jonny turned around to find himself face to foot with a massive Greek titan.

"Oh, man," he moaned.

Just as the creature lifted it's foot in preparation to step on Jonny, he was logged out of Questworld. He took off the earpiece headset and asked, "What's up?"

Hadji answered, "Dr. Quest called and said to meet him at the house."

"Then let's go."

Everyone, Race and Jessie included, arrived in the living room at about the same time, anticipating that they were about to be going somewhere.

"What's going on, Dr. Quest?" Race asked.

"I just received a call from an officer with the Chinese People's Armed Police Force. It seems they have received a threat of a potential attack against their government," Dr. Quest explained.

"But why did they call you?" Hadji asked.

"Because the person threatening them is General Fong."

"General Fong?!" everyone but Jessie exclaimed in surprise.

Jessie, however, was confused, "I think I'm missing something. Who's General Fong?"

Jonny was the one to explain, "He was a nutjob who tried to take over China by threatening to launch a missile at Beijing, a couple years before you came. We were there because the government wanted Dad to find out why people were getting sick off fish caught nearby and found out the cause was some chemical from rocket fuel getting into the water. We thought he was dead."

Jessie nodded now that she understood the backstory, as her father added, "There's no way he could've survived that mine blast."

Dr. Quest nodded. "I agree, but it seems he did and now they believe he has one or more nuclear devices. I told them we would leave as soon as possible. I'm ready and will meet the rest of you at the Dragonfly when you're finished."

Everyone went their separate ways and to pack and were soon airborne enroute to Beijing. Hadji told Jessie more about their previous encounter with Fong, while Jonny listened to music with Bandit asleep on his lap. Dr. Quest and Race discussed the situation and made additional plans, including what additional contacts and other resources they may have in the area.

At last, the large aircraft touched down at Beijing Nanyuan Airport and everyone disembarked with their luggage and Dr. Quest's equipment. Two officers from the People's Armed Police were there to meet the group and escort them to a meeting at a local office, where they would finally learn more information.

However, as everyone was piling into the two cars that had been brought for them, a car with several men casually pulled to a halt a short distance away. Both Race and the officers heard firearms being cocked. "Down!" Race shouted as everyone ducked behind the cars to avoid the erupting gunfire.

The men then yelled something in Mandarin and sped off, with Race and the officers raising quickly, sidearms drawn, to make sure it was safe. Everyone examined the vehicles, with Race commenting, "Looks like, other than the windows being shot out, the cars are okay." Then, he added, "My Mandarin is a little rusty. What did the guys that shot at us yell before they drove away?"

"Roughly translated, they said, 'This a warning. Leave now or suffer at the hands of Fong,'" one of the officers explained.

After each group put their luggage into the trunk of the respective car in which they'd be traveling, they were finally on the way to the meeting.

 **A/N: Even though I mention my preferred JQ timeline in my profile, actually working with it from the perspective of Real Adventures required a minor retcon. In the original series, Jonny would've been 10 and, by this point in the timeline ( a little over a year after TRAJQ season 2, sometime in 1999), would be 17. Interestingly, this would put the time I mentioned Jessie coming to live with them being the same year as Jonny's Golden Quest came out, which was an unplanned coincidence.**

 **Anyway, please R &R.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The drive to the People's Armed Police building went without incident and, once they arrived, everyone got out of the cars to go in. Dr. Quest and Race were led to a meeting room, where Lt. Zháo and the local police commissioner were all waiting, as Jonny, Hadji, Jessie, and Bandit had to wait outside. Everyone stood to greet the men when they entered the room, before sitting down to begin discussing the recent threat.

"Greetings, Dr. Quest and Mr. Bannon," a gray-haired, somewhat-muscular man probably in his mid-50s began in clear English with only a slight accent. "I am Commissioner Lín. Commissioner Wah sends his regards, as he has been reassigned since your last visit."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Commissioner," Dr. Quest responded.

"I am glad your were able to come so quickly. We were surprised to receive this letter..." the commissioner paused for a moment as one of the officers in the room handed Dr. Quest and Race and sheet of paper, "It says, more or less, that General Fong has returned and has obtained resources more powerful than in his last attempt to take over the country, and that he vows to succeed this time. He also threatens to destroy Beijing, if we try to stop him."

"Are you sure it's him?" Race asked.

"As certain as we can be. While you were traveling here, we also received a videotape reiterating the threats from the letter."

Added interest came to Dr. Quest's eyes. "Hmmm. May we see the tape?"

"Of course," came the reply, as the commissioner motioned for someone to insert it into a TV/VCR on a cart no one noticed in a corner of the room. The cart was then wheeled out and the tape started.

On the screen was General Fong, discussing his threats in more detail, including laying waste to Beijing and taking over the Chinese government, his belief they were weak and how he'd be a better leader, and other things Dr. Quest and Race had heard variations on from many villains they had encountered in the past.

"Sounds like we need to move fast," Race said after the video ended. "Do you have any information on where he could be?"

One of the officers from the People's Armed Police replied, "When we received the letter, we immediately investigated the site of his original base, as well as similar sites, but found nothing."

"Is it possible that this could be an elaborate hoax, then?" Dr. Quest suggested.

Everyone hesitated for a moment, before the commissioner broke the silence. "It is possible, yes, but the dangers if it is not a hoax are too great to treat it lightly. We hope that, since you have defeated him before, you would have greater insight into his ways than any of us. We cannot over-emphasize the importance of this mater, as a failure could mean either Fong taking over China or the loss of millions of lives, if not both."

Dr. Quest nodded. "I understand. We'll get started immediately."

At that, everyone stood and shook hands, with the Commissioner adding, "My department is at your disposal and we will do our best to provide whatever resources you need."

A senior People's Armed Police officer added, "We will help in whatever way we are able, as well."

"Thanks. We'll keep you posted." Race replied to both men. Pausing on the way out, he added, "Actually, there might be something you can do. If Fong is operating the same way as last time, he'll need a large piece of land for a base, hidden from main roads. It'd be helpful if you could check satellite photos of the area around Beijing for any suspicious activity."

"It will be done. We will notify you if we find anything of interest," the officer agreed.

While the meeting was going on, the teens were a little bored. Since Jonny and Hadji were also involved in the original encounter with General Fong, Jonny believed they, and Jessie, should've been included in the meeting. After he complained about this to Hadji, his brother replied with a smile, "Jonny, you are forgetting one important detail: we were asleep for most of the action."

"Yeah, but we were at least involved for part of it," Jonny grumbled.

"Asleep?" Jessie asked curiously.

"Yeah. Hadj and I were gassed early on, so we didn't wake up until all the fun was over. That's why we don't really talk about it. All we know after that is what Dad and Race told us," Jonny explained as Jessie nodded in understanding.

Just then, Dr. Quest and Race walked out of the meeting room and into the waiting area. Bandit hopped out of Jonny's lap and the teens rose from their chairs, awaiting more information on what was happening.

Anticipating their questions, Race motioned for them to come along and simply commented, "We need to hurry. We'll tell you on the way."

By the time the group arrived outside, the cars were prepared to take them first to a hotel to drop off their luggage, and then wherever else they wanted to go. A suite had been obtained with rooms for everyone but Jessie, who got a room to herself across the hall. Wary after someone on the local police force had betrayed them to Fong last time, no one said much about the situation until they prepared to leave their rooms. Race had talked the officers into agreeing that they should use a rental car to avoid bothering them when they needed to go somewhere, needing to trust an unknown cab driver, or otherwise attracting unneeded attention. When presented this way, the point was mutually agreed upon and a car would be reserved for the duration of their stay.

Everyone was anxious to get started and didn't wanted to stay in one place too long, since Fong evidently already knew they were in Beijing. Soon, after getting unpacked, they met outside the adjacent rooms and went downstairs together. Outside, they were met by several police officers who, after confirming the Quests didn't need anything more for the time being, drove off while leaving a mid-sized rental car behind. Everyone got in, with Race driving, Dr. Quest in the front passenger seat, and Jessie in the back, between Jonny and Hadji.

"Where to, now?" Jessie asked.

"To see if we can find out where Fong could be hiding. I got the local address of the one person who could probably help." Race replied as he drove without elaborating any further.

They continued driving, with the teens talking back and forth to each other while still remaining alert, until they finally pulled up to a storefront in a somewhat-seedy area. Getting out of the car, they began walking toward the front entrance when chaos suddenly erupted inside. Bandit barked and gave a brief whimper, before hiding behind Jonny.

Race motioned everyone to crouch and one side of the door, behind him, as he drew his sidearm and slowly went through the door.

Just as he stepped in, a woman shouted, "Watch it!"

Race ducked as a large vase or something similar smashed against the wall, just above his head. Looking around again, he saw three Chinese men who had cornered the attractive woman who'd yelled. She was in her late-30s, about average height, with a pleasant figure and short, black hair.

One of the men who'd cornered her looked around when she yelled, to see who'd come in. When he noticed that the vase had missed Race, the man made the mistake of lunging at him, only to jump headfirst into the awaiting butt of Race's sidearm. Another decided to try and help, but was quickly dispatched within a few seconds by a kick to the chest that sent him into a wall, knocking the man unconscious.

The third man was going to try and sneak up behind Race, but was instead hit over the head with a small, but apparently very hard statuette.

The brunette woman then walked over to Race, wrapped her arms around him, and gave him a passionate kiss, before smiling and commenting, "Hello, Race. Long time, no see."

"Hi, Jade," came Race's response.

Her arms were still around Race when the rest of the group walked in. Jessie cleared her throat, prompting Race to pull away.

"Hi Jessie, Jonny, Hadji, Dr. Quest," Jade greeted everyone.

Everyone greeted her, Jessie with less enthusiasm, but still cordially.

"So, what's going on?" Jade finally asked.

Race and Dr. Quest briefed her on the situation and, at the end, she commented, "Well, then, sounds like I'd better get to work. You do know this isn't going to be cheap."

Everyone laughed a little, before Dr. Quest commented with a laugh, "We know, Jade. Don't worry."

Jade glanced at her watch and said, "Meet me here tomorrow morning, around 7:00. I should have what you need by then."

Race nodded as the group split off. He and the Quests still had some investigative work of their own to do. Quest Team walked back to their car and, after looking around to make sure they weren't being watched, got in and drove to the next stop. At the same time, Jade had gone out the back of the store, where her own car was parked, and drove away to see what she could find out about General Fong.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The first objective, at least while waiting to hear from the People's Armed Police, was to drive out to the site of Fong's former base, in hopes of finding clues to the general and his men's current whereabouts. By the time they had finally left the city lights behind, it was dark, but soon enough they were in the swamp region where the precursor to the current events had unfolded seven years earlier.

It was early enough to where the group was able to find a small hut, built fairly recently, with an airboat nearby. As they walked up, and old man with a long beard and bent over a little with age, hobbled out to greet them.

"It is not often I receive visitors. What can I do for you?" he asked.

"We were hoping that you would allow us to rent your boat for a few hours," Hadji explained.

The man pondered this for a moment, before replying, "Thank you, but my boat is not for rent."

"But this is important," Jessie spoke up, trying to avoid giving away any information she should keep quiet, "What we find out there may help to save a lot of people."

The man looked at her closely, before relenting, "I believe you. You may have the use of my boat. I only ask that you bring it back safely."

"Don't worry, we will," Race reassured him.

As they piled onto the boat, the old man cautioned, "Be careful. Bad things have happened here. Many go in, but do not return."

Dr. Quest smiled at the warning, "Thank you, but we'll take our chances."

The old man watched them set out and, once they were out of view, something unexpected happened. He straightened his back and ceased walking with a limp as he moved quickly to the hut. Inside, he sat down at a desk, his hands reaching for his face. He then began to remove the wig, fake beard, and fake eyebrows he was wearing, revealing a much younger man probably in his late-20s or early-30s.

On the desk was a handheld radio, which the man picked up and began speaking into. "They have arrived and taken the boat, number two. You should see them coming in about 3 minutes," he said to the person on the other end."

"I will be ready," came the response.

The investigation turned up nothing for a while, before everyone worked their way to the massive pile of rubble that marked the site of the original base. They pulled the boat close enough to get out and, after tying it up, began to look around, with Bandit staying close to Jonny and sniffing the ground as they walked. As unlikely as it was that they'd be able to find a clue here, they had to check everywhere possible.

After a few minutes of walking, Race called out, "Anybody find anything?!"

"Not yet!" Dr. Quest and the teens each answered.

Suddenly, Jessie stopped moving. Jonny noticed and asked from a distance, "Find something, Ace?"

Jessie quickly motioned for him to be quiet, at which point he quietly walked over to investigate for himself. By the time he'd reached Jessie's position, she was down on the ground listening. "Do you hear that?" she whispered.

Jonny listened as well and observed, "It sound like an ventilation system."

"Right. And why would there be one underground, in the middle of a swamp, unless..."

It hit both at the same time. They raced over to tell the others, when a dozen men appeared and started toward them. Race was the first to strike, tackling one guard and sweeping the leg of another, while on the ground. Jonny, Jessie, and Hadji used a flurry of martial arts strikes to dispatch a number of guards, while Dr. Quest held his own and managed to knock out two more with punches. Unfortunately, the more guards they took down, the more new ones appeared.

After a few minutes, the guards finally were able to overwhelm them with superior numbers, at which point the quests calmly surrendered, as at least this would likely provide an opportunity to see General Fong in person and also solve the mystery of his hideout. Unexpectedly, they were escorted by the guards to a section of the pile of rubble itself, under which there appeared to be an intact portion of wall, which they were approaching. One of the guards placed his hand on a specific spot, about two feet below eye level, causing part of the wall to slide back to reveal an elevator.

Everyone was pushed inside, with the guards behind them. The doors closed and the large group began to descend. After about 30-40 seconds, they came to a stop and the doors opened into a corridor.

"Unless I miss my guess, this is Fong's new base," Race commented.

"And in the last place anyone would think of looking: underneath what's left of the old one," Dr. Quest added.

They were led past a variety of rooms and saw men dressed in a sort of modified Chinese army uniform. It was apparent that they were only seeing a fraction of the base's actual size, meaning there was no way to determine the extent of the general's resources. Regardless, it was obvious he'd been preparing for this for a long time.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The guards brought the group into an office, where a man with his back turned to them was seated behind a desk.

"You're never going to get away with this, Fong," Race threatened.

"Wrong on both counts, Mr. Bannon, came an unfamiliar voice, "I _am_ going to succeed and I am _not_ General Fong," the man finished as he rotated in the chair to face them.

Everyone appeared confused as the dramatic reveal showed they were apparently supposed to recognize the man, even though none remembered ever seeing him before. Finally, Jonny spoke up.

"Uh, who are you?"

The mystery man appeared to be in his early-40s, was somewhat muscular, with graying hair and a sinister look in his eyes. Realizing that no one remembered him, he ranted, "You cost me my honor, partial use of my arm, and made me kill the man who I'd served faithfully for many years, and you don't even know who I am?!"

Everyone looked at each other, muttering things like, "No, sorry," or "No clue," which only served to make him angrier.

"Fine! I will refresh your memory! 7 years ago, you were hired by the government to investigate a sickness spreading among people eating fish, which led you to General Fong's base. Once there, you wove your way through the guards, knocking one out. During your escape, that guard awoke, too late to stop you. He was shot by Fong and fell on the detonator, setting off the mine that killed the general, his beloved leader."

"And I am guessing that you were that guard," Hadji observed, voicing the thoughts of the entire group.

"That is correct. I was found by an old fisherman who took me to a doctor, where the bullet was removed from my shoulder. The damage was already done, however, and I have not had full strength in that arm and shoulder ever since. But now, I have my chance to have my vengeance on all of you, and succeed where General Fong could not. The Chinese government will either surrender to me, or Beijing will be destroyed. As you have likely discovered, I possess multiple nuclear devices, which I will soon use if my demands are not met."

"Wow," Jonny couldn't help but say.

"Impressed or afraid?" their captor asked arrogantly.

"Actually, I'm just surprised that you're as big of a nut as Fong was."

"Take them away!" the former guard shouted to his men.

The guards split them up into 3 groups, in hopes of preventing them from working together to escape as easily: Race and Hadji, Dr. Quest and Jonny, and Jessie. A little while later, the guards returned with another prisoner: Jade, who they locked in the cell with Jessie.

"I see the old man with the airboat got you, too," Jade said sarcastically.

Jessie fired back with equal sarcasm, "What are you doing here? I thought you preferred to let someone else actually go after the bad guys."

"Believe me, it wasn't my idea," Jade replied, "I was following a lead on a guy who could give me some information, couldn't reach any of you, and wound up talking to the old man who said I'd find what I was looking for out here. Next thing I knew, I was ambushed and brought here. So have you found a way out, yet?"

Annoyed, Jessie glared at her. "Don't you think if I had, I'd be out of here by now?"

Never one to be taken aback easily, Jade simply smiled and responded, "We should probably be working together to find a way out, don't you think?"

Not having a counter for this, Jessie nodded and muttered, "Agreed."

Once in the cells, and after the guard had left to check on the others, Jonny and Dr. Quest immediately began looking for a means of escape, including seeing if there were any openings that Bandit could fit through, before sending him to get the keys, or some other assistance.

"You've gotta be kidding," Jonny complained, "I can't find any possible way out of here."

"Neither can I, son," replied Dr. Quest, "And unless I'm mistaken, there isn't even an opening large enough for Bandit to go through."

"If he was here. I haven't seen him since those guards showed up. He must've hid before they saw him."

Race and Hadji were methodically searching through the cell to find how to get out, without any luck. The cells were some of the best they'd ever been trapped in. "Any luck, Hadji?" Race asked.

Hadji shook his head. "No, but I see a guard coming."

The guard arrived alone to check on all the prisoners and, when he got to Hadji and Race, paused with the intention of trying to intimidate them a little. However, Hadji had removed the ruby from his turban and called the guard over.

"If we are to remain prisoner here," he said, "Then you may as well take this jewel. It is a valuable heirloom that is very special."

"What's so special about it?" the guard asked sarcastically.

The guard stared at the ruby with some annoyance as Hadji continued talking, moving it in a way to reflect the light. "Notice the way it flashes. That is how you can tell it is valuable, by the flashes."

The guard nodded slowly at this. Hadji then added, his tone as calm and level as it had been the whole time, "You no longer wish to keep us imprisoned."

"I no longer wish to keep you imprisoned," the guard repeated.

"You will unlock the cell to free us."

"I will unlock the cell to free you," the guard repeated again as he reached to unlock the door, before abruptly hitting the cell bars with the butt of his rifle.

"Enough tricks!" he shouted, before adding with a sneer, "We are all trained to resist things such as hypnosis."

"So much for that. I guess we just have to sit back and wait for our chance," Race commented.

A short while earlier, Bandit had come out of his hiding place and, upon realizing everyone had been taken somewhere, immediately began trying to track them. Their scents soon led him to the portion of wall that hid the elevator, but he was unable to go any further. Conveniently, some guards were on their way back up to make sure everything involving the air boat/old man trap was ready for anyone else who may come along.

They were in a hurry and didn't see Bandit dart into the elevator car just before the door closed. Now, he just had to wait until someone pressed the button to go down. If it was the guards coming back, he would likely be noticed. However, someone else pressed the button to call the elevator, allowing Bandit to ride down into the base. Once the car came to a stop, he was able to quietly sneak out and around a corner, as the guard going into the elevator was too preoccupied to notice him.

He was now on the base and ready to start looking for everyone. Things were about to get interesting.

 **A/N: There'll be at least one, possibly two more chapters to finish the story out, depending on a choice I have to make before posting the next chapter. Thanks for sticking with the story this long and please R &R.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry for the delay on this chapter. Between occasional writer's block, as well as Thanksgiving, it took a little longer to finish than expected. Anyway, thanks to everybody who stuck with the story all this time and I hope you've enjoyed it. Remember to R &R.**

 **Chapter 5**

The little dog made his way through the facility, sniffing out the trail of his family, carefully avoiding anyone who could see him. He had sneaked through villains' bases often enough to know exactly what to do. Once, he had a close call as two men walked right past him talking, each passing on one side. Fortunately, they were too distracted by their conversation to notice.

Bandit darted in and out of corridors, narrowly avoiding the leader's office by quickly following the trail past the door and on toward the detention cells. At last, his height allowing the dog to dodge enough security cameras to avoid being noticed, Bandit arrived at the section where his family was being kept. After a short bark, he ran over to the cell holding Jonny and Dr. Quest.

"Bandit!" Jonny exclaimed quietly, trying to avoid attracting attention. Once dog and owner were reunited, he added, "I'm glad to see you too, boy."

"And I think I've got a plan to get out us of here," Race commented, before explaining it to the others just loudly enough for them to hear, without alerting any guards.

The next step involved Race calling out to their guard, who was in another room, "Hey, Ugly! Come in here!"

The guard slowly entered the room with irritation showing through his body language. "What do you want?"

"The room service here stinks," Race commented sarcastically. "So we're leaving."

While the guard was focused on Race, Hadji had moved next to the bars, a few feet away, and shouted, "Run, Jonny!"

When the guard whirled around, Race managed to grab an arm and pull, slamming the guard against the bars and knocking him out. Jonny then called Bandit, who had been hiding around the opposite corner, over to his and Dr. Quest's cell, and ordered, "Okay Bandit, bring me the keys."

As Bandit had helped in a number of escaped before, he understood and immediately looked to where they were hanging from the unconscious guard's belt. A few tugs later and the dog held the key ring in his mouth as he walked over to Jonny. Jonny was then able to reach between the bars so that Bandit could drop the keys into his hand. After some effort, he and Dr. Quest found the right key and used it to unlock their door.

Jade looked toward the direction of the and said quickly, "Hurry, before any of his friends show up."

A few seconds later, they were free. After Race grabbed the guard's rifle, it was time to get moving. "Let's go. We've got to stop them from setting off those bombs," said Dr. Quest.

"We'd better stay away from the leader's office. It'll be crawling with guards," Jessie commented.

Jonny added, "Especially when they find out we escaped."

"Too bad that's exactly where we have to go," Race commented with a half-smile. "Where else do you think they'd keep whatever kind of detonator they're using?"

"Of course," Jonny groaned, "Let's do this."

The group carefully wove their way through the corridors, with Bandit walking closely amongst them. After a few near-encounters with guards, who they either dodged or knocked out and stole weapons from, the group was just around the corner from the leader's office.

Cautiously, they crept around the corner to find no guards in front of the office. "Slammin'," Jonny said with excitement, "Now we've just get everybody to leave."

About that time, and alarm sounded. Their escape had apparently been discovered. The leader and the two guards who stayed with him raced out of the office and down a corridor, crossing just in front of Quest Team, but never noticing them.

"That works," Jonny said with a shrug.

Everyone quickly walked into the room and began to look for the detonator, gambling that everyone was in too much of a hurry to grab it. Within a minute or two, they were proven right. Hadji also discovered something of interest: a number of video tapes that were clearly several years old and marked with titles that Jade helped translate as things like "First nuclear threat" and "Last warning before detonation." It seemed the mystery of Fong's appearance on the tapes was now solved: they had been recorded years earlier, which fit with the large facility they were now in. The entire scenario stemmed from a plan Fong was unable to carry out before his demise.

Just as Hadji had told the others of the discovery, their enemies returned to the office, finally realizing their oversight.

"Stop right there, Dr. Quest," the leader said, as Dr. Quest was examining the detonator. "I will take that."

"Certainly," came the calm response.

"Excellent," he replied sinisterly, after obtaining the detonator once again. "And now, these men will return you to your cells while I finalize my plans. The deadline is almost upon us."

As soon as they'd reached a corridor not far from the elevator and with few guards, Jonny said in a low voice, "They really should know better."

Then, like lightning, Jonny and Race each whirled around with a punch to each guard. Of the other three guards nearby, one was met by a spin kick from Jessie, Hadji kicked another in the chest to take him down, and Dr. Quest wrestled the last guard's rifle away and knocked him out with the butt of it. The entire fight was over in less than a minute.

Finally, everyone began to run for the elevator to the surface, with Race and Jessie grabbing rifles just in case they had any more trouble.

"I wonder if he's discovered that I disabled his remote detonator," Dr. Quest thought aloud as they ran.

Race responded, "I think that's a safe bet, Doc," as they all heard footsteps behind them and the leader angrily shouting in Mandarin.

Quest Team and Jade ducked into the elevator for the ride to the surface, which seemed to take an eternity. Once there, they climbed aboard an airboat and sped off. Unfortunately, the leader of their former captors was in another boat directly behind them. Due to the amount of people on the Quest's boat, it was unable to travel as fast as it normally would. Eventually, however, they noticed something strange.

"Is it just me, or is the other boat backing off?" Jonny asked the others.

"They're up to something," Jessie replied, "There's no way they'd give up that easy."

The leader then radioed to some of his men in the upcoming trees. He'd had them place mines in an effort to succeed in the same way that General Fong failed, complete with men stationed nearby with remote detonators. So, he forced Quest Team into the minefield and suddenly, an explosion rang out, which Race expertly avoided.

"Hang on, everybody!" Race shouted.

When the leader saw his escaping captives easily evading the mines, he opened the throttle on his own boat to force them into the last few. However, due to amazing boat piloting from Race, they were soon down to the last mine. The guard who was supposed to set it off had allowed his mind to wander, prompting the leader to shout at him over the radio. Without looking, he reached out and hit the detonator...just as his leader's boat was passing over the mine.

This blast seemed more powerful than the rest, possibly because they'd anticipated the someone making it to the final mine and wanted to be sure to stop any boat nearby. It worked, though not quite like they had planned.

Quest Team continued on until they arrived at the bank, where they quickly got off the boat and were able to ambush the few guards near the shack where the "old man" had been.

As the drove back to the city in their rental car, the mystery now being solved and the threat eliminated, Dr. Quest observed, "Whatever his name was, the same circumstance that made him into a monster also destroyed him."

"I guess we can report to the police that these jokers are taken care of," Race added.

"And, thanks to a map I saw hanging in the office, we might know the locations of both bombs," Hadji chimed in.

"Do you think you can remember them?" Dr. Quest asked.

Hadji thought for a moment. "I could probably find them on another map."

Meanwhile, Jessie was deep in thought, before Jonny finally asked, "What's up, Ace?"

"I was just thinking about all the nameless goons we've fought through and wondering how many of them could end up like this guy."

"With you people, there's no telling," Jade replied with a laugh. "And now, about my bill..."


End file.
